by Rachel Hunter
The Town of Gouverneur Council at its Feb. 11 meeting approved the purchase of 1,500 yards of sand for the Town of Gouverneur Highway Department to use this winter season for the treatment of local roads.
Town of Gouverneur Highway Department Superintendent Michael Wainwright said the following: “We plowed and sanded 23 times in January. 10 times we plowed twice in one day. So that is 33 times we plowed the township... We need to get some more sand. We have salt on surplus up to the state barn that we stockpiled in the fall in case of this problem. We did get 1,000 less yards of sand in the fall. We figured we’d have enough. But, like I say, we went 33 times around the township in a month. It really depleted our salt pile.”
Town of Gouverneur Supervisor Dave Spilman, Jr. said. “It’s the 11th of February, and we’ve already gone out six days in February.”
“Probably 1,500 yards of sand will do it, with the 100 ton of salt that we’ve already got. We’ve already paid for the salt. We don’t have to purchase that. It is at that point where if we get one good freezing rainstorm, and we are going to be in trouble. When it is 28 degrees and raining, and you’ve got four 10-wheelers running, it does not take long and you go through a lot of material. I just want to make sure it is okay to…”
“How many yards do you need,” Town Councilperson Lory Whitton asked. “And how much is it per yard?” It was estimated that the total cost would be about $8,000.
“We didn’t have to do it last year,” Supervisor Spilman said. “We were lucky. But every year that I have been here, we’ve had to. Usually it is a little later in the year. Into February and March, you are guessing on whether you are going to make it through.”
Supt. Wainwright said, “I’ve seen it where we’ve had to haul it twice in a winter.”
Councilperson Whitton asked: “Is there a time of year when it is cheaper?”
“No,” Supt. Wainwright said. “Cooke Sand and Gravel pretty much gives us the price that others can’t compete with.”
“You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” Councilperson Whitton said.
“Yeah, I just worry,” Supt. Wainwright said. “We could put up 1,500 yards over winter break and not go out. It has happened before. We put up 1,500 yards, and never went out again. Maybe we could cut back next year, depending on what we use. It’s just. We use a lot of sand. Salt’s in it. We have to put the extra in it to get the roads to melt. Maybe I have been a little excessive over it. I don’t know… We put that 100 ton of salt up to the state barn. Now we can just go up there, load our trucks and bring it back. We’ve already paid for it. It is just sitting there waiting in case of an emergency.”
“Then we can put it back next fall,” Supervisor Spilman said.
“Yes, a lot of times that price changes drastically in the middle of the winter,” Supt. Wainwright said. “They’ll jump it up $20 per ton.”
“It’s going to change now,” Deputy Town Supervisor Jay Bowhall said.
“But look at the way it has been,” Supt. Wainwright said. “There’s been storms way down into Texas. There’s states that have gotten snow and cold this year that don’t usually get it. A lot of the salt mines are here real close.”
There was no further discussion on the matter. The motion to allow Supt. Wainwright to purchase 1,500 yards of sand was made by Deputy Town Supervisor Jay Bowhall, seconded by Town Councilperson Lory Whitton. The motion carried, with full support from the Gouverneur Town Council.
“We’ve got to have what we’ve got to have this time of year,” Supervisor Spilman said. “We are going to use some more tomorrow morning, and more on Thursday and Friday and Sunday.”
In other news: The Town of Gouverneur is still working with FEMA on storm recovery.
The Town of Gouverneur Highway Department has started removing trees in preparation for the upcoming building move.
The Town of Gouverneur Highway Department reported a lot of breakdowns with the trucks this month.
The Town of Gouverneur Highway Department has started cleaning out fire hydrants.
The new heaters were installed in the Gouverneur Town Barn.
The next regular meeting of the Town of Gouverneur Council will be held on March 11, 6 p.m. at the Town of Gouverneur Offices Building, 1227 US-11, Gouverneur. For more information, call 315-287-2340 or visit www.gouverneurny.com.